Rooster Morris is an author, entertainer, storyteller, musician, and composer. He has performed for over 4.5 million students in elementary schools, public libraries, museums, and public venues. Rooster has a passion for entertaining audiences while encouraging all forms of creativity. His ability to connect with all ages has resulted in national recognition by Southern Living magazine and numerous newspapers. Rooster shares with the audience some of the stories of his life that resulted in his creation of the Axle Galench series of children’s books. Kids walk away from his performances believing they can write, draw, perform, sing, or play a musical instrument. Most importantly, students walk away believing reading will open the doors to every opportunity in life.

    Give Your Students

                                the Advantage…

 
Everyone knows authors write books, but how many students actually have the opportunity to watch a published author read from their books? When a student has the advantage of meeting an author and has the opportunity to ask questions, they realize authors are people, too. Too many times, kids think authors are people from far-away places that just rattle the keyboard and poof a book is written. Rooster dispels these misconceptions and explains how he started writing and why—and how he goes through many edits before his books are published.

Rooster talks of habits being one of the most important things in a person’s life. If people develop good habits, they will achieve their goals and be ready for anything. Rooster talks about how he wanted to play the fiddle when he was a young boy. How does a child without a music teacher become a Smithsonian recorded fiddle player? He learns to make a habit of practicing the fundamentals and enjoying the practice. Rooster shows the kids the pay-off—a rocking fiddle tune that brings the excitement to a new level.

Rooster will inspire, educate, and entertain the audience. He involves them in the program, which gives them a chance to be a part of the excitement on a very personal level. Many students begin writing after having seen Rooster’s program. When a child hears someone they admire say, “You can do anything if you want to do it,” it motivates them into action. A fourth grade student wrote to Rooster to tell him about the story she was writing. She quoted Rooster in her letter when she said, “My desire to write and have other people read my writing is bigger than my fear of failure.” Wow, that is an advantage!

Laid-Back West, Inc. has been booking authors in schools for over 13 years. We know the value of a successful author visit. We will provide you with all the materials and expertise to give your students the advantage!

For more information about Rooster's programs you can go to www.laid-back.com.

For information about TCA Mini-Grants for schools go to TCA Frequently Asked Questions.

As of yesterday, May 6, 2008, Rooster is now on file with the FACT folks of Texas and his fingerprints are on file for all to see! For those of you that haven't heard, Texas enacted a law effective January 1, 2008, that any adult that comes in contact with Texas school children must have their fingerprints on file with the Texas Department of Public Safety. So now we are in compliance!

 "Wow!  Mr. Morris Really Rocks! My fourth graders had the opportunity to experience Mr. Morris not 
only through his books and audio tapes but also in an AWESOME LIVE performance! Everyone was glued, even the itty bittys!

We read the first book, The Gate of No Return, fall semester of this year. The kids really loved it! They we're so amazed at Mr. Morris' ability to change his voice and become the characters.  They were always laughing and cutting up at the funny puns.

In conjunction with the audio book I also used the curriculum guide, which is a great educational tool!  I had students who never  volunteered to share - sharing.  Students with low comprehension could recite chapters verbatim!

And the songs, oh, how they love the songs!  Especially Floggerjaw!  One of my boys even has it as a ring tone on his Dad's cell phone. They are always wanting to listen to his CD and I guarantee - they know every word!

We're on book two now, and every day students are eager for our READING with ROOSTER time!  Mr. Morris' visit has made a huge impression on my kids!  I have students READING - REALLY READING!"

                                                                                                                              ~Lora Barkus, Whittier Elementary
                                                                                                                                 Winfield, Kansas